Our Story

The story behind Gorilla Spirits Co. and our support for gorilla conservation

Gorilla Spirits Co. was founded by Andy Daniels whose vision was to create a truly ethical business and an exceptional portfolio of spirits and liqueurs.

Based in the north east corner of Hampshire as it borders with Surrey, Gorilla Spirits Co.’s distillery in Upton Grey is where we make our small-batch, award-winning spirits – all while donating 10% of bottle profits to The Gorilla Organization for every bottle we sell.

We’re proud of our products and we’re proud of the contribution we make to saving the endangered gorilla population.

We’re a family-style team, all focused on the mission of distilling, bottling, finishing, distributing and marketing Gorilla Spirits Co.

We're saving Gorillas one drink at a time!

Meet Les the Gorilla, who’s here to help tell our story.

Meet the Maker: Andy Daniels

My love of food and drink started when I was a young boy being brought up by my single-parent Mum.  She was a big influence on me and seemed to have endless knowledge when it came to domestic stuff like sewing, knitting, and cooking.  Apart from everything else Mum was a pretty decent baker and I think I spent much of my early years licking spoons in the kitchen!  Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that by the time I reached my mid-teens I had established a pretty good collection of cookery books and magazines of my own.

My passion for all things food and drink has stayed with me all my life and as I approached the twilight years of my corporate life it was finally the right time to indulge my passion and start a business in this exciting sector.  In the past I had dabbled with brewing, been a regular cider maker and a hobbyist distiller and having seen from afar a craft distiller movement develop in the USA I knew that I wanted to be part of a similar movement that was beginning to emerge here in the UK.  My adventure to create what became the Gorilla Spirits Co. began in early 2011 and it took more than 4 years before our first product, Silverback Mountain Strength Gin, was launched in December 2015.

My vision for Gorilla Spirits Co. is to move with the market by creating a range of the highest quality spirits and liqueurs that people love to drink.  But I also want to demonstrate that our business can be successful at the same time as being focused on social responsibility.  This means being aware of the impact we have on the world and to find ways to make our impact a positive one.

Our commitment to donate 10% of bottle profits to the Gorilla Organization lies at the heart of what we do but we look beyond this to find many other ways of making a positive contribution too.  I was so proud to receive an International CSR Excellence Award in 2019 for our approach and I’m delighted that our story will be written up as an example to be shared with other businesses around the world.

Looking forward you can expect to see some exciting new products coming out of the distillery here in Upton Grey as well as some new and innovative packaging ideas.  We love to see people at the distillery so I look forward to sharing more of our story with you when you visit for a tour, masterclass or gin school!  Until then, thanks for your support and I hope that you keep enjoying our range of fabulous spirits.

Andy Daniels
Founder and Chief Gorilla

Meet the Maker: Andy Daniels

My love of food and drink started when I was a young boy being brought up by my single-parent Mum.  She was a big influence on me and seemed to have endless knowledge when it came to domestic stuff like sewing, knitting, and cooking.  Apart from everything else Mum was a pretty decent baker and I think I spent much of my early years licking spoons in the kitchen!  Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that by the time I reached my mid-teens I had a established a pretty good collection of cookery books and magazines of my own.

My passion for all things food and drink has stayed with me all my life and as I approached the twilight years of my corporate life it was finally the right time to indulge my passion and start a business in this exciting sector.  In the past I had dabbled with brewing, been a regular cider maker and a hobbyist distiller and having seen from afar a craft distiller movement develop in the USA I knew that I wanted to be part of a similar movement that was beginning to emerge here in the UK.  My adventure to create what became the Gorilla Spirits Co. began in early 2011 and it took more than 4 years before our first product, Silverback Mountain Strength Gin, was launched in December 2015.

My vision for Gorilla Spirits Co. is to move with the market by creating a range of the highest quality spirits and liqueurs that people love to drink.  But I also want to demonstrate that our business can be successful at the same time as being focused on social responsibility.  This means being aware of the impact we have on the world and to find ways to make our impact a positive one.

Our commitment to donate 10% of bottle profits to the Gorilla Organization lies at the heart of what we do but we look beyond this to find many other ways of making a positive contribution too.  I was so proud to receive an International CSR Excellence Award in 2019 for our approach and I’m delighted that our story will be written up as an example to be shared with other businesses around the world.

Looking forward you can expect to see some exciting new products coming out of the distillery as well as some new and innovative packaging ideas. Thanks for your support and I hope that you keep enjoying our range of fabulous spirits.

Andy Daniels
Founder and Chief Gorilla

Supporting Gorilla Conservation

We support The Gorilla Organization with a donation of 10% of profits from every bottle we sell.
The Gorilla Organization logo - Gorilla Spirits Co.

Even though the numbers of Mountain Gorillas are on the up they remain an endangered species and still face the serious threat of extinction.  Back in 2010 there were only 880 in existence but by 2018 this number had grown to 1004. This small increase in their numbers is to be welcomed and is due to the combined efforts of governments, charities and caring business like us.  We can’t be complacent though as the growth in gorilla numbers could be reversed at any time because of disease, poaching and encroachment into their habitat. This is why we are proud to donate 10% of bottle profits to The Gorilla Organization for every bottle we sell.

The Gorilla Organization work with communities at the forefront of gorilla conservation with innovative and award-winning projects in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. Its field staff in Africa, supported by fundraising and communications teams in London, oversee a range of grassroots conservation projects, all of them aimed at addressing the key threats facing gorillas today.

The Gorilla Organization logo - Gorilla Spirits Co.

Supporting Gorilla Conservation

We support The Gorilla Organization with a donation of 10% profits from every bottle we sell.

Even though the numbers of Mountain Gorillas are on the up they remain an endangered species and still face the serious threat of extinction.  Back in 2010 there were only 880 in existence but by 2018 this number had grown to 1004. This small increase in their numbers is to be welcomed and is due to the combined efforts of governments, charities and caring business like us.  We can’t be complacent though as the growth in gorilla numbers could be reversed at any time because of disease, poaching and encroachment into their habitat. This is why we are proud to donate 10% of profits of every bottle we sell to The Gorilla Organization.

The Gorilla Organization work with communities at the forefront of gorilla conservation with innovative and award-winning projects in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. Its field staff in Africa, supported by fundraising and communications teams in London, oversee a range of grassroots conservation projects, all of them aimed at addressing the key threats facing gorillas today.

Disclaimer

Gorilla Spirits Co. is a Corporate Partner of The Gorilla Organization, a Registered Charity (No. 1117131). All fundraising activity is carried out by The Gorilla Organization. Gorilla Spirits Co. is not responsible for and makes no warranty as to the accuracy of any content or processes used on external pages linked to from this website. Gorilla Spirits Co. is not a registered charity, nor an agency working on behalf of a charity, and does not handle donations on behalf of The Gorilla Organization.

The Gorilla Organization can be contacted at 110 Gloucester Avenue, London NW1 8HX. Telephone 0207 916 4974. Email info@gorillas.org. Website www.gorillas.org.

10% of profits from the sale of each bottle of our spirits is donated to The Gorilla Organization to support the work of the charity.

The Gorilla Spirits Co. Team

Our team is a mix of expert distillers, mixologists and sales professionals.

Andy Daniels - Gorilla Spirits Co.

Andy Daniels

Founder & Chief gorilla

Nick Masters

Managing Director
Claire Daniels - Gorilla Spirits Co.

Claire Daniels

Mumma Gorilla

Our Future

We will continue to expand our range of products, delivering innovative, high quality, small-batched spirits and liqueurs. We are committed to working with the Gorilla Organization and to improve all aspects of our operations to minimise our impact on the environment.

New Products

Come back often for details of new product announcements.  We’ve a number of exciting things up our sleeve including some that will be available exclusively from our web shop.

Gorilla Spirits Around the World

We’re constantly evolving our network of international distributors and hospitality venues – get in touch with our team if you’re interested in our trade offering.

Building on our Trade Relationships

We set ourselves apart from other brands by working closely with our trade partners, providing on-site drinks training, drink menu creation and staff incentives.  Above all we like to think that we’re a great team to work with so if you’d like to join our troop then we’d love to hear from you.

Discover Gorilla Spirits Co.

Our Story

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Our Spirits

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Disclaimer

Gorilla Spirits Co. is a Corporate Partner of The Gorilla Organization, a Registered Charity (No. 1117131). All fundraising activity is carried out by The Gorilla Organization. Gorilla Spirits Co. is not responsible for and makes no warranty as to the accuracy of any content or processes used on external pages linked to from this website. Gorilla Spirits Co. is not a registered charity, nor an agency working on behalf of a charity, and does not handle donations on behalf of The Gorilla Organization.

The Gorilla Organization can be contacted at 110 Gloucester Avenue, London NW1 8HX. Telephone 0207 916 4974. Email info@gorillas.org. Website www.gorillas.org.

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